Beginning in 1956, China has built a large protected areas system, but has struggled to implement effective management. There remain ongoing problems with administrative authority, unclear regulations, inadequate funding, inappropriate development within protected areas, a dearth of professional capacity, and more. To address these concerns, since 2001, international nongovernment organizations led by The Nature Conservancy have encouraged various levels of government in China to experiment with an international model of national parks. The government in Yunnan province, the center of China's biological and cultural diversity, has acted to create a national park experimental system with new administrative bureaus, comprehensive regulations, park master plans, and several national park pilots. We review two of these pilots, Pudacuo National Park and Laojun Mountain National Park, to evaluate whether this park model, as it is being applied in Yunnan, offers an improvement to existing nature reserve regulations and implementation. Though the experiment is in its early stages, issues remain around regulatory authority, community participation, park funding and staff capacity. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.